Just back from 4-day Ecstasy cruise, Galveston to Cozumel. The ship re-routed to Progresso due to mechanical problems. The grumblings on the ship indicated that this happened on the last 4-day cruise, as well. The rumor was that this is becoming a common occurrence. I don't like Progresso, but took it in stride. A lot of the passengers were a bit more vocal. The theory is that it saves Carnival a lot in fuel costs and Progresso needs the tourist $$.

If this has been a common problem, I would think I would have seen something the board about it. Has anyone else had this happen to them?

Darlene

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DarleneMariner of the SeasCarnival Magic Bloggers Cruise 5Mariner of the Seas

Each passenger were offered a $50 OBC, but I went ahead and IMMEDIATELY booked a $75 shore excursion for the Progresso Resort Beach Break. It was a 35-40 minute bus ride out from Progresso and the facility was beautiful. Food (traditional Yucatan snacks) was YUCK but otherwise I was glad we did it. At least the grandbaby got to play in the sand. As she said, it took us 2 days to get to the beach . Faced with the same decision and a baby that wanted to play in the sand, I would do it again. W/O grandbaby, I would stay on the ship!

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DarleneMariner of the SeasCarnival Magic Bloggers Cruise 5Mariner of the Seas

Progresso was one of our planned stops on the old Glory western route. We actually enjoyed it, but like I said, it was planned. That 5 mile pier is a little weird, but the town is a vacation spot for the nationals. We took an excursion into near-by Meridia and it was great. Toured the governors mansion and a cathedral built by the Conquistadors with the stone from Mayan temples they tore down. Course, bein a retired construction worker that kinda stuff floats my boat.

I would like to reccomend the Mayan Reality Tour. Get on Yahy's bus too, she is absolutely adorable.
We saw flamingo's, a Mayan ruin and a newer (lol) church still in use today, probably built in the 1800's, then we were off to a cemetary where we learned to identify Mayan plots vs Spanish ones. From there we stopped at a 16th century cathedral, absolutely beautiful and then stopped for a lovely lunch at a tiny cantina run by a couple of very gracious ladies. We had to import a few chairs to accomodate everyone.
Then....the highlight of this tour, a visit to a Mayan family home. Such sweet loving people. The most humble of dwellings and standard of living, but the sense of family and devotion to one another was a humbling experience. Made me think about the true meaning of wealth. BTW, you CAN give money to this gentle family. We asked first of course and Yahy told us that it was ok to do so. They raise turkeys, chickens and vegetables, but they can always use some other staples that money can buy.
At each of these destination points, we got off of the tour bus, took pictures, wandered around, climbed the ruins, and had an awesome, awesome time.
If anyone happens to choose this excursion, I hope you will have as wonderful a time as we did.
A sidebar to this tour...one of my daughters professors had allowed her to take time away from class to go on this cruise, providing, she do an obligatory paper and presentation based on her tour of a Mayan ruin. Not only was she able to gather all of her facts and pics etc. from this adventure, but, Carnival's media director Chris, happened to go on this same tour for filming purposes, so my dd was able to include the excursion video in her presentation, with tons of shots of her actually taking the tour. So very perfect.
galvgal

We've been to Progresso at least 5 times. We rented a car each time and went exploring. We went to some ruins that were only about 15 miles from Progreso. We also have driven into Merida and visited the town square that has many historical buildings and a huge Catholic church. On our last trip to Merida, we drove to Chichen Itza. These ruins are amazing, and were definitely worth the drive (2 hours or so).

There are many ports that we like better, but we always manage to have a great time there!!